diff --git a/src/main/java/com/zaxxer/hikari/HikariConfig.java b/src/main/java/com/zaxxer/hikari/HikariConfig.java
index cff7fb0a..13cdaccc 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/zaxxer/hikari/HikariConfig.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/zaxxer/hikari/HikariConfig.java
@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@ public class HikariConfig implements HikariConfigMXBean
    private String dataSourceJndiName;
    private String driverClassName;
    private String exceptionOverrideClassName;
+   private SQLExceptionOverride exceptionOverride;
    private String jdbcUrl;
    private String poolName;
    private String schema;
@@ -913,8 +914,12 @@ public class HikariConfig implements HikariConfigMXBean
          throw new RuntimeException("Failed to load SQLExceptionOverride class " + exceptionOverrideClassName + " in either of HikariConfig class loader or Thread context classloader");
       }
 
+      if (!SQLExceptionOverride.class.isAssignableFrom(overrideClass)) {
+         throw new RuntimeException("Loaded SQLExceptionOverride class " + exceptionOverrideClassName + " does not implement " + SQLExceptionOverride.class.getName());
+      }
+
       try {
-         overrideClass.getConstructor().newInstance();
+         this.exceptionOverride = (SQLExceptionOverride) overrideClass.getConstructor().newInstance();
          this.exceptionOverrideClassName = exceptionOverrideClassName;
       }
       catch (Exception e) {
@@ -922,6 +927,29 @@ public class HikariConfig implements HikariConfigMXBean
       }
    }
 
+
+   /**
+    * Get the SQLExceptionOverride instance created by {@link #setExceptionOverrideClassName(String)}.
+    *
+    * @return the SQLExceptionOverride instance, or null if {@link #setExceptionOverrideClassName(String)} is not called
+    * @see SQLExceptionOverride
+    */
+   public SQLExceptionOverride getExceptionOverride()
+   {
+      return this.exceptionOverride;
+   }
+
+   /**
+    * Set the user supplied SQLExceptionOverride instance.
+    *
+    * @param exceptionOverride the user supplied SQLExceptionOverride instance
+    * @see SQLExceptionOverride
+    */
+   public void setExceptionOverride(SQLExceptionOverride exceptionOverride) {
+      checkIfSealed();
+      this.exceptionOverride = exceptionOverride;
+   }
+
    /**
     * Set the default transaction isolation level.  The specified value is the
     * constant name from the <code>Connection</code> class, eg.
@@ -990,15 +1018,15 @@ public class HikariConfig implements HikariConfigMXBean
    //                          Private methods
    // ***********************************************************************
 
-   private Class<?> attemptFromContextLoader(final String driverClassName) {
+   private Class<?> attemptFromContextLoader(final String className) {
       final var threadContextClassLoader = Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader();
       if (threadContextClassLoader != null) {
          try {
-            final var driverClass = threadContextClassLoader.loadClass(driverClassName);
-            LOGGER.debug("Driver class {} found in Thread context class loader {}", driverClassName, threadContextClassLoader);
+            final var driverClass = threadContextClassLoader.loadClass(className);
+            LOGGER.debug("Class {} found in Thread context class loader {}", className, threadContextClassLoader);
             return driverClass;
          } catch (ClassNotFoundException e) {
-            LOGGER.debug("Driver class {} not found in Thread context class loader {}, trying classloader {}",
+            LOGGER.debug("Class {} not found in Thread context class loader {}, trying classloader {}",
                driverClassName, threadContextClassLoader, this.getClass().getClassLoader());
          }
       }
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/zaxxer/hikari/pool/PoolBase.java b/src/main/java/com/zaxxer/hikari/pool/PoolBase.java
index 0867db5d..6ce3b616 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/zaxxer/hikari/pool/PoolBase.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/zaxxer/hikari/pool/PoolBase.java
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ abstract class PoolBase
       this.schema = config.getSchema();
       this.isReadOnly = config.isReadOnly();
       this.isAutoCommit = config.isAutoCommit();
-      this.exceptionOverride = UtilityElf.createInstance(config.getExceptionOverrideClassName(), SQLExceptionOverride.class);
+      this.exceptionOverride = config.getExceptionOverride();
       this.transactionIsolation = UtilityElf.getTransactionIsolation(config.getTransactionIsolation());
 
       this.isQueryTimeoutSupported = UNINITIALIZED;